Saviour
by shadowswan
Summary: "You can call me Swan," she smirked. "And who are you, Swan? What are you doing in my kingdom?" Prince Killian is dreaming of escaping the land he is to rule one day, and his saviour may have just sailed over the horizon in the form of Captain Emma Swan. CS AU.


_Disclaimer: Any characters, places, storylines etc. associated with Once Upon a Time are not mine._

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><p><span>Chapter 1<span>

Killian Jones paused for a moment to breathe in the ocean air. The waves before him were bright blue and inviting, and he was sorely tempted by their promise of escape.

He had always loved the sea, whether it was admiring it from afar or being on deck of a ship destined for new and exotic trading ports. He quite fancied himself as a sailor from time to time, a lieutenant perhaps, even a captain in his more exciting daydreams.

More recently, ideas of sailing away somewhere new had never been far from his mind. He knew that spending most of his time at the docks wasn't the best way to overcome the dilemma, but very few places afforded him the same peace and time to think.

Well, it was mostly peaceful.

"Your highness!" someone called from behind him, and Killian turned to the voice reluctantly.

"Yes?" he answered shortly, irritated at being disturbed so soon. He had been down here an hour at most, catching the sun rising. He hadn't planned to venture elsewhere until midday at least.

One of the palace guards hopped off his horse and hurried over to him, giving a quick bow, sensing the prince was unimpressed at being interrupted. Killian nodded at him briefly, giving him credit for at least being perceptive.

"The King, your father, he wishes you back at the castle immediately. A neighbouring kingdom wishes to discuss business."

"And this requires me, why?" Killian muttered to himself, shooting the guard a look which told him the question did not need an answer. "Very well, I shall be along in a moment."

The guard headed back to his horse as Killian took one last look at the sea. He had wanted to escape down here this morning precisely to avoid business meetings such as the one he had been called to. His father was planning to join forces with a smaller land, with the intention of eventually bringing it under his own rule. Killian wished no part in it, knowing it could only end in bloodshed, but now the sole heir to the throne, he had no choice.

Sometimes he longed to just take command of a boat and sail it off into the unknown, see if he could find a new land entirely. Terrifying, perhaps, but freedom was guaranteed.

The blues and greens lapped at the wood of the docks gently. As he turned to his own horse, ready to accompany the guard back to his castle, he saw a magnificent ship sail over the horizon, too far away to determine any detail, but he could tell just by its size that it was grand.

He shook his head, wishing he could be on that ship, wondering if it had any intentions to stop at their port. He was not aware of any trades happening for a few weeks, though knowing his father, this could have been a last minute deal.

Killian scrambled up the rocky shortcut from the docks to the fields where his horse stood patiently waiting for him. Adjusting his waistcoat and flicking his slightly overgrown hair from his face, he rode off quickly, the guard in pursuit.

A few dozen miles away, a captain clambered up on to the helm of her ship, surveying their next destination, a smile playing on her face.

~.~.~

"Father, it would be irresponsible to go to war with one kingdom when we are negotiating a peaceful deal with another!" Killian stated, slamming his fist on the stone table.

He had listened to the old men discussing the issue back and forth for hours now, and they'd achieved nothing. Killian had remained silent for almost the entire time, but now he'd had enough.

"Son, you don't understand this yet. One day you will."

The other officials glanced between Killian and the king cautiously as he dismissed the young prince.

Killian would not settle for this though. He would not settle for their kingdom going to war, he would not settle for a kingdom divided, and he most certainly would not settle for being dragged away from the shore only to be humiliated in front of a group of men he would one day lead.

"No, I do understand! I understand perfectly!"

His father looked at him distastefully, and Killian could not tell if he planned to go on, ignoring him, or if he was going to raise his voice too.

Instead, he chose to do what in many ways seemed worse.

"Your brother would never, never-" he began to mutter to himself, shaking his head.

"You're right, perhaps Liam would never have disagreed with you, but he is dead!" Killian rounded on him. "Liam is dead, and I am to be king, and however much you may hate that idea, there is nothing anyone can do."

The king took a deep breath, refusing to look his wound up son in the eye. Eventually he turned to the rest of the table, giving them a nod which was their cue to leave.

"Thank you gentlemen," he said quietly as one by one they left the room.

"Father," Killian protested, now annoyed that his father would not stand up to him.

"We will do as you wish," the king interrupted him, standing up and pacing the flagged stone floor of the meeting room. It was a place that had once seemed so exciting, so mysterious to Killian; now it was just one of many rooms in their castle that he spent most of his time trying to avoid. "We will not go to war. We will attempt a peaceful merger with our neighbours, and that is all."

"But-"

"That is what you wanted, what you believed in, is it not?"

Killian sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Perhaps his unruly temper had gotten the better of him again, but he believed in what he was saying, though it seemed his father did not. He was setting him up to fail, placating him to avoid an argument, ready to intervene when all went wrong, to undermine Killian and put him in his place.

He didn't want this. He wanted his father to listen to him, to treat him as a prince, as his heir, rather than a disappointing second choice for the throne.

"It is what I want, but you are still the king," Killian said, his voice measured.

"We will try things your way," the king answered. "And we shall see."

With that he swept out of the room, not bothering to dignify his only son with a goodbye. Frustrated, Killian caught the door before his father's robes had brushed round the corner, storming off in the opposite direction.

He needed to clear his head, and now, apparently, plan for a future of the kingdom which did not involve warfare.

~.~.~

Daylight was beginning to fade by the time the ship Killian had spied earlier in the day slowly made her way into port.

The young prince had spent the afternoon pacing the castle, trying to think of a way to live in harmony with the kingdom next to his own, despite the bloodlust that seemed to reign supreme in that area. Eventually he'd given up; the castle only made him miserable, and he did his best thinking at the docks anyway.

Taking command of another horse, he'd wasted no time in making his way to the water's edge, reaching his destination before the sun went down.

Though he tied the animal up in the same place as before, Killian had no plans to stay nearby that evening. The docks he frequented were old and unused, set apart from the town and of no real use but for fishermen who were edged out during the busiest times of the year.

Tonight he was venturing closer to the docks in the middle of town, where seedy taverns were around every corner and the patrons fared little better.

He'd abandoned his standard attire for a more subtle look. Princes were not meant to mix with the pirates and common townsfolk that milled around these parts, but he needed a distraction, and he wasn't going to get one by lingering around the stuffy old men moping about in the castle.

Meaning to go straight into one of the pubs he'd found to be more tolerable in these parts, Killian had been sidetracked by the beauty of a ship gliding into his waters. Torn between wanting to investigate the visitor to his kingdom and an overwhelming desire to begin his night of drunken anonymity, Killian paused.

He supposed he could simply lurk around the ship. There was no need for him to introduce himself to anyone, not yet. It was unlikely that the crew would be of much interest. If they were pirates, the palace guard would be on hand to keep them in check. Knowing Killian's luck, it was probably a dull trade vessel.

Still, he just couldn't ignore such a ship, so he turned on his heel and retraced some of his steps, watching the action discreetly from the shadows of a poorly lit street.

As the crew unloaded, a large crew he noted, made up of such a patchwork of people - he was sure several of the men were a lot shorter than some of the others, shorter than any normal man if he thought about it - Killian searched for the name of the boat.

_The Golden Bug, _he read from the side.

A curious name. This ship had intrigued him from the moment he'd first set eyes on it, and it continued to do so.

For several minutes, a seemingly endless amount of people poured off the ship, a horrendously noisy bunch, although as he watched them gather, there didn't seem too many after all. A very strange crew indeed. There seemed to be something else to them, something more magical, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Killian dismissed it as foolish.

It seemed by now that everything needed for the night ahead had been unloaded; a few crates Killian was eyeing up suspiciously, filled with goodness knows what, and several cases. The deckhands had stopped their yelling, and now those on the ground were simply looking up, awaiting further instruction.

Killian followed their gaze expectantly, sure that their captain would be fearsome. It seemed, however, that the biggest mystery of the ship had yet to reveal itself to him.

At the top of the gangway, a figure appeared, a female figure. A female captain. Killian stared, stunned.

She descended down the wooden platform, long, bright blonde hair trailing behind her, a certain arrogance to the way she was strutting towards her crew. The loose hair added a touch of femininity to her otherwise masculine outfit. Leather trousers, leather waistcoat, sturdy boots and a billowing white shirt; he was in awe.

He remained in the shadows, unable to leave even if he'd wanted to. He had to know more about this character, her reasons for being here, her history, even her future. Somehow she stole his attention entirely, so much so that he almost forgot himself and went to follow her as she made her way into the town.

Stopping himself just in time, his eyes followed her instead, watching her talk animatedly with a brunette by her side, another female if he wasn't mistaken. Who was this crew, where had they come from? He was uninterested in the other woman though, even her bright red cloak unable to distract him from the blonde. On any other day, he would have fixated on the short statures of the men walking behind the two women too, but even this was not enough.

Once he was sure he would not be seen, he quietly followed them, telling himself that he needed to know the whereabouts of pirates who could pose a threat to his kingdom.

He found them moments later, already sat in the nearest tavern, laughing loudly and clinking overflowing tankards of beer together, the liquid sloshing over the tabletop. Watching from a small window, Killian noted that the captain seemed to be having the most fun.

It pulled at something inside of him, not just this beautiful captain but any captain. He wanted to be a crew member of a ship, of her ship, be able to sail the world and spend long nights in taverns with no one caring.

People did care though, cared for his whereabouts, cared about the way he looked to his people. With a heavy sigh, Killian took one last look at the pirates then turned to leave, his gaze staying on one in particular a moment too long.

He watched the way her cheeks turned red with the warmth of the pub, of the company, of the rum he watched her sneak every so often. The way she used her hands to speak, the way she playfully admonished the man sat next to her, and then he watched her raise her head, look straight at him, as if she'd known he was stood there the whole time.

Anxious not to be recognised, Killian stole out of sight, but not before he'd caught the way she winked at him.

It took him by surprise as he hurried away, trusting his feet to know the way back to the old docks, his head filled only with ideas for how he could find himself back here tomorrow morning.

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><p><em>AN: Making my return to ff. Exciting stuff. So I was in two minds about posting this, but I decided to do it, and I hope you guys like it. The next chapter will of course be a little more exciting. I imagine this idea has been done before? I don't know, I don't spend as much time as I'd like to surfing the ouat archive, but here's my spin. Was originally going to be a one-shot, then a three-shot, now an entire story is beginning to form in my head. Lemme know what you guys think. If there isn't much interest, I'll leave it as just a three/four part story. If people would like me to continue, I'll probably do so, and bury my head in the sand even more about my other stories. Ah dear. Stay tuned for the next chapter, and another CS one-shot I'm working on that may or may not have been inspired by a certain TS album released lately. Sadly the other CS one-shot I was working on, the one in which Killian gets frozen and Emma isn't ready to admit she loves him because she doesn't want to lose him... well, that kinda got covered in the show. Awks. Thanks Adam&Eddy. Okay, rambling over. I hope you liked it, thanks for reading!  
><em>

_P.S. - if you know me from HOA, you should definitely enter the Secret Santa I'm organising! There should be Secret Santas for all fandoms._


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